American Pride
by Aestiva
Summary: America does as he sees fit. He always has, always will. So really, the other nations should have known he'd get up and walk away from their nasty comments one day, walk away and leave them to remember that he is more than a fat boy eating burgers. He is a nations and he'll stand tall, thank you very much. One-shot


**I really hate this but I did promise I'd get five one-shots up before midnight and I need two more in half an hour so I just fixed this up as well as I could.**

**Warnings: Angst**

**Pairings: None really. I guess this could be CamAme or AmeCan though.**

**Disclaimer: Nope.**

There was a letter on the table and, rather noticeably, no America when the Nations started walking in the room for the meeting. It was rather long. Canada read it out loud without stopping.

"For someone who supposedly hates us so much, you sure don't have a problem with the billions of dollars that my people put towards help efforts when there's a disaster or a war that you need help in. If my people are so stupid, then why are you so fine with them coming over and helping to rebuild when something is destroyed? If we're so obnoxious, then why don't you hate our inventions? I just ask that you listen. Not say you're listening, but really open your minds and your souls and let me speak.

We're not perfect. Not by a long shot but then again, nobody is. We just make the best of what we've got. Sure, there are the racists and the corrupt and the offensive but the majority of Americans are hard working, honest people. We might not know your culture, but we'll respect it. We come from every corner of the globe, from every background. We can speak every language and have seen every sorrow this realm has to offer. We are part of the Great American Melting Pot and we welcome new neighbors with a "Howdy y'all" or a "How do you do?" and offer them something to eat.

We dream in vibrant color and do our best to paint it. We have millions of people who are always moving, both in their thoughts and in their actions and we take the steps needed to dream even bigger. We respect no limitation but that of death and we will not be bullied into submission. We refuse to bow our heads or our flags and we walk with the confidence that we have the ability to change the world. Our talents range from juggling to drawing to riding to flying and we use them as well as we can.

For every American you see on the internet spelling things wrong and every kid who skives off of school, there is another who reads anything they can get their hands on, who doesn't obey orders and who wants to learn all that can be learned. We are bookworms and writers, geeks and nerds, dreamers and do'ers. We will not stop thinking and we will not stop wondering. We will not stop coming up with creative things to do and we will not stop trying to do right, by our enemies as well as our friends.

We are sickened by the sight of an enemy beaten or starving or sick and denied medical care. We hate the sight of families being torn apart or children forced into fighting. Civil wars make us discussed and so do normal wars, though we will not hesitate to fight for what's right. We find abuse, rape, murder, neglect and other traumatizing things wrong and we hate animal abuse. We do not ignore them. Instead, we get what needs to be done, done and then come back to help build peace and stability up.

We are not afraid to sacrifice ourselves for what's right. We will go into the heart of danger, fully knowing that the chance we will come back is almost none. We don't kill civilians and we don't torture people. We will help the civilians around us with food and clothes and other necessities and we don't betray their trust. We have faith the world is a good place and we work to prove it to others. We see the bigger picture and we have faith that justice will always prevail, maybe not for millennia but that it will prevail.

We are a child with stars in her eyes and hoof prints on her soul. We are a baby saying his first word and a writer with messy hair. We are a comedian on a stage and a recluse in a library. We are a cowgirl drinking beer on the back of a pick-up truck and a scientist working on curing cancer. We are a soldier dying for his country as well as a protester picketing wars or abortion. We do not believe that being great is our birthright as Americans but rather something we must work to prove that yes, we are great.

We are the type to leave a warm apple pie out on the counter for dessert and to eat a family dinner. We'd rather grill burgers out in the green backyard and eat them there than drive by a fast food restaurant and eat their disgusting food. We make our kids eat vegetables and drink their milk and do the same ourselves. We love the dinner down the street, worked by a coupla high school kids and owned by an elderly couple.

We know we aren't perfect. We are also the arrogant tourist and the mother with her child taken for neglect. We are the rowdy men at a bar and the underage drinkers partying and getting pregnant. We are the high school dropout and the bank robber. We are the killer and the sadist.

We know that we aren't perfect. We know that our nation has fallen from the grace of many but all we ask is that you give us a chance. We may be a young country but our history is rich and intricate. We know that all we can do is police ourselves and raise our children the same way. We know that tolerance is the one thing that is absolutely vital. We know that change is coming, out over the ridge and in the valley the storm is brewing and lightning flicks through the air like a vengeful serpent. We swear to help it come. For better or for worse, there will be change soon and we will through our hearts and souls into making sure it's the good kind of change.

So please, just watch. Watch the man who saved a drowning child as well as the one who went on a killing spree and you will see that we aren't all bad. We aren't all arrogant and we don't all oppose equal rights. We are many and we are one."

Then England read it outloud again, as if the words hadn't already seared themselves in everyone's brain forever and Canada knew that America had succeeded, had ran off to live in the slums of America and make them better. He had visited Canada and told him he might, told him to watch out in case he left. Canada was kinda glad he made it.

_And I was thinkin' to my self  
I'm so glad that I live in America_

Nobody other than Canada had realized how many times America was there for them, a helping hand or a shoulder to lean on. America had gotten hit more than once breaking up a fight between two Nations and he always was just as kind to the aggressor as the victim, the friend Nation as well as the one he didn't care for as much.

He was the one to comfort a crying Nation and he was also the one to take them out for shakes during the meeting when they just weren't up for seeing the other Nations. He was the one to let someone wear his jacket when they were cold and the one to help someone up from the floor. He was the Nation that always brightened peoples' days, even if they grumbled along the way.

He may have been able to swing around massive animals when he was in diapers but he had never let his strength get away from him and he never did anything stronger than a normal fit person, unless it was to help a Nation. He could have used his strength to be a bully but he never did. Canada admired that about him.

The countries that thought they knew him cried at home, behind closed doors and under heavy blankets. The small countries that relied on him for protection cried together, at his funeral and whenever anyone said something bad about him. The countries that didn't really care before cried alone, at a park deep within their land. Canada wished they would stop.

His brother had visited him before he left and told him his plan. He could have prevented this. It would have killed him though, for he knew that the spark of freedom within his brother needed this fuel to steady its slow burn deep within his twin's heart and he also knew that his brother would stay if he asked him to.

Far away, America is missing him as well. He sends a silent message to his brother. _I'll let you know where I am._ While America may be cutting off contact with the other Nations, he could never cut off Canada. They are bonded tightly, stitched at the seams. If one of them falls, they both will fall. And they wouldn't have it any other way.

Canada knows where his brother is. The other Nations know he knows and know he won't tell them what he knows. He wishes they'd stop asking him.

He thinks of his brother less as the days go by. He still gets a new postcard every time his brother changes identities and his fridge door is getting cluttered. He wonders about throwing them away. He always decides not to. His brother is a hero to be remembered, not some uncle who feels the need to keep you informed about them when you really don't care.

He misses America all the time. America, who calls every Nation brother or sister. America, who likes to run up hills just to feel the wind in his face. America, who would always give him a nod when he just wanted to be left alone. America, who feels sickened when people who aren't his get hurt. America, who has a brand of determination that is utterly unique.

**Please drop a review for a struggling writer on the way out.**


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